A Wings 'N Things Restaurant menus are seen in Huntington Beach. ANA P. GUTIERREZ, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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People dine at Wings 'N Things Restaurant in Huntington Beach. Owners of Wings 'N Things have rebuilt after a devastating kitchen fire that shut down the restaurant for nearly a year. They reopened in November 2012 and since then, they have been preparing for their biggest day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday. The Hayes want to try to break their record of 37,000 wings sold on Super Bowl. ANA P. GUTIERREZ, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Owners of Wings 'N Things have rebuilt after a devastating kitchen fire that shut down the restaurant for nearly a year. They reopened in November 2012 and since then, they have been preparing for their biggest day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday. The Hayes want to try to break their record of 37,000 wings sold on Super Bowl. ANA P. GUTIERREZ, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Facts worth flapping about

Founded: Owners of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y. created the Buffalo wing in 1964. Teressa Bellissimo was trying to scrounge up a late-night snack for her son and his friends at the bar after hours and did so by frying up a bunch of chicken wings and dousing them with hot sauce.

At the time, chicken wings generally were used to make chicken stock, and most cooks viewed wings as scraps. The trend caught on and spread to Florida, then moved to the West Coast.

Accoutrements: Did you ever wonder why wings are served with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks? Back in the day, the blue cheese dressing was used to cool the tongue after eating spicy wings, and the celery served as a spoon for the dressing.

Fry it up: The original way to make Buffalo wings calls for frying the wings, dipping them in a butter sauce and then smothering them with hot sauce.

Source: Don Hayes; The New York Times

To serve more than 31,000 wings on Super Bowl Sunday – that's the goal.

Family-owned Wings 'N Things will look to break its 2011 record after being closed for 11 months after a fire ravaged the kitchen and damaged the nearly 30-year-old building.

"I don't see it being that much different than before," said Don Hayes, owner of Wings 'N Things.

The fire happened at 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2011.

A twisted heap of charred plastic hangs on a wall, with a sign under it showing the exact day and time that a fryer in the kitchen caught fire.

"That was the clock that was in the kitchen," Hayes said.

It sits next to a clock showing the time in Buffalo, N.Y., to pay homage to the birthplace of the Buffalo wing, and a clock showing the time in Munich, a favorite vacation spot for the Hayes family.

When Hayes first learned about the fire at the restaurant at 18302 Beach Blvd., he thought it had been contained to the kitchen and the damage was minor.

"I honestly figured it would be a couple of days or a week or so," he said.

Fire inspectors and the insurance company told him Wings 'N Things would need some major work. In addition to revamping the kitchen, the walls and ceilings needed to be replaced.

"Then it was in two weeks, or three," he said. "In about February or March, I gave up on giving estimates on when we would reopen."

Wings 'N Things reopened about a year later on Oct. 30, serving hundreds of customers who faced an hourlong wait.

Now, Hayes said they've had plenty of practice in their new digs to deliver on Super Bowl Sunday.

In 2011, game day saw 31,578 wings sold. As of Friday, about 2,400 had been ordered.

"By Saturday night, whatever number is on that board, we will double it on Sunday," Hayes said.

The kitchen has new fryers that turn out better results. As long as the new equipment runs as planned, Hayes said he believes the restaurant will top its 2011 numbers.

Hayes purchased Wings 'N Things as part of a Florida-based franchise in 1989, but broke off in 1990.

The restaurant was one of the first in Orange County to serve Buffalo wings, a culinary trend that was born and bred in New York in the 1960s and slowly moved to the West Coast.

After more than two decades of doing business in Surf City, Hayes said he and his staff have the system down – fire or no fire, new equipment or old.

"We're so comfortable with how we've done this," he said. "We learned how to do wings right."

In 23 years, Hayes said they have not experienced an incident like this fire but his restaurant has faced and overcome other types of challenges and Wings 'N Things still remains a staple in Huntington Beach.

"We've been through three slow downs in the economy and we've been able to survive," he said. "A lot of it has to do with the customers who come in week after week. They've got to get their wing fix."

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